Kathryn Hudson, more formally known as Katy Perry, is referred to as one of the most impressive and renowned pop stars of our generation. With over 152 million records sold worldwide. Katy Perry has endured an incredibly successful music career ever since she launched her certified Diamond (ten times Platinum) hit album, Teenage Dream.
Teenage Dream, released in 2010, is considered one of the most successful albums of all time. The album contains twelve songs, each averaging over 100 million total streams (not counting radio play). The album has won numerous awards and has received seven Grammy nominations. Five out of the twelve songs became No. 1 Billboard hit singles, with the “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)” music video gaining 1.8 billion views and winning two major awards in 2012: the People’s Choice Awards for Favorite Music Video and the iHeartRadio Award for International Video of the Year. Other world-famous hits like “E.T.,” “Firework,” “California Gurls,” and “Wide Awake” have each earned several MTV and People’s Choice Awards for Best Video, as well as high streaming numbers and purchases.
Teenage Dream became an extremely important album in music history. With this album, Katy Perry set the record for the first woman to ever have five No. 1 hit singles from one album on the Billboard Hot 100. Katy Perry and Michael Jackson currently tie for this record.
Katy Perry explained in a 2010 official YouTube interview that her inspiration behind each song on Teenage Dream was to capture the precious memories of being a teenager—high school and falling in love for the first time. “Last Friday Night” describes the wild parties and adventures experienced during high school. “California Gurls” is meant to embody the party culture of spring break in Southern California, where Katy Perry grew up. “Teenage Dream” explains what it’s like to fall in love as a teenager, and “The One That Got Away” expresses the feeling of first-time heartbreak as a teen.
Today, Teenage Dream is a nostalgic, feel-good summer playlist that continues to stand out as a feminist pop masterpiece, accurately capturing the feeling of being a young and free teenage girl. After sixteen years since its release, Teenage Dream receives around 5 million daily streams worldwide and nearly 9 billion total streams, making it one of the most well-known and beloved pop albums of all time.
